Proposed skate park is funded

Council comes up with final $200,000

Imperial Beach skaters are closer than ever to having a new, safe place to ride their boards after the City Council this week voted to add $200,000 in redevelopment funds to cash already raised to build the long-awaited facility at Sports Park.

The city will seek California Coastal Commission approval for the park — estimated to cost about $330,000 — as early as March. Construction could begin in June and be completed by September.

“I just wanted to say how gratifying it is to be here at this moment,” Councilwoman Diane Rose said Wednesday. “I want to thank the community for sticking with it. We appreciate your efforts and the money you were able to raise.”

Donations total $142,000, including $100,000 from county Supervisor Greg Cox and $15,000 from the “Lords of Dogtown” filmmakers. The Tony Hawk Foundation contributed $10,000. Trash company EDCO committed $5,000. Cox Communications donated $1,000.

The rest came from local skateboarders and private donors, including contributions made on behalf of the late Councilman Fred McLean, a skate park proponent who asked for donations in his name before he died in May.

The city had planned to build the park in phases because funding was an issue. Donations alone were not enough to build the 7,600-square-foot park, which originally was estimated to cost $400,000.

At a council workshop in November, members decided the city would contribute about $2 million in redevelopment funds to several recreational projects, including the skateboard park. Additionally, Grindline Skateparks, which designed the park, was asked to come up with a construction cost estimate to complete the project in one phase. The estimate came in at $254,860.

With $27,360 in design costs and $49,100 in administrative costs, the total cost of the skate park is estimated at $331,320. An environmental report is open for public review until Jan. 4. A public hearing on the environmental review is set for Jan. 20.

City officials also agreed to contribute redevelopment funds for a soccer field and land near the Bayshore Bikeway.

The council said it felt the skate park project was something that some of its members and a number of residents had been working on for more than a decade. On Wednesday, the City Council made its November agreement official.

Residents said they appreciated the city’s efforts.

“On behalf of I.B. 4 A Skate Park, I want to thank you for getting us close to seeing this built,” said Heidi Quiroz, who attended Wednesday’s council meeting. “My two boys are here in the audience, and they are happy.”

Resident Michael Carey, a skate park advocate who has been involved in the effort since 1998, said he was thrilled after all these years.

“I’m really amazed,” Carey said. “We appreciate the efforts of people like (former Assistant City Manager) Tom Ritter and the council for bringing this to fruition. It means so much.”

Councilwoman Patricia McCoy, who admitted she was against spending the money at a time of economic uncertainty, made the vote unanimous.

“I was being frugal and it wasn’t a popular stand, but someone’s got to watch the funds — but we found the money,” McCoy said before the vote.